Saturday, December 20, 2008

Mean Girl syndrome, maybe?

or, Kathleen Parker opens her elitist yap again in this morning's Chron...

Difference between Kennedy, Palin is office sought
...
It is a legitimate question: Why is the resume-thin Caroline Kennedy being treated seriously as a prospective appointee to the U.S. Senate when the comparatively more-qualified Gov. Sarah Palin received such a harsh review?
It is legitimate, at least, to those inclined to see apples and oranges as essentially the same.

Right then, ok. I really don't have any idea what Sarah Palin could have done differently for elitist harpies like Parker and Peggy Noonan not to shit on her like they have since she showed up on the national scene. Given Palin's impeccable resume I don't know that they wouldn't have been so hard on her if she had been a governor of a larger state like, say, my beloved Texas. The only thing I think that could explain their overweening animosity is the phenomena explored in this movie, and in the book on which it was based. Only this time, Kathleen Parker and Peggy Noonan — hell, even David Brooks, if I may be so blunt — play the role of the popular-girl clique and, of course, Palin plays the new girl on campus who goes to the top of the food chain, so to speak, and shows them all up as the poseurs they are. And we see how jealous it makes them, as in this instance, instead of talking shit and scheming behind her back, they talk shit on the pages of the country's newspapers. I think it's safe to say I am roughly of two minds on this. On one hand I think it's good that they do this out in the open so conservatives can see them for what they are and discount their opinions and influence accordingly, but on the other hand I think it's pretty damn pathetic that they didn't ditch that petty middle-school mentality however many years ago. Any way you look at it, though, Palin's still the winner. She's accomplished more so far in her life than these pathetic, petty pundits will by the time they're on their respective deathbeds. I'm sure deep down they know that too, which I think only exacerbates the pettiness inherent to that middle-school mentality they're all stuck in. But it's still an ugly thing to see, more so among people who should have grown up and out of that by now.